Tag: beauty box

November was a very hectic and busy month! I had to put blogging aside in favour of things in real life that needed more attention at the time. Then with vacation towards the end of the month, time to spend blogging was quite scarce. So at the end of the day, November was spent taking a break to recharge from everything!

But I’m back now and I hope that my new content that I’m planning in the coming weeks will be well received. I know I need to go beyond Shop My Stashes and unboxings in order for my blog (and myself) to grow.

Right now, though, I would still like to share my November ipsy glam bag with you.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with ipsy,it is a monthly beauty subscription from the US. This subscription is $10.00 USD a month in the US and $10.00 USD + $4.00 USD shipping for Canadians. You get a mix of skincare, makeup and haircare deluxe and full sized products. And you get a different style of bag each month. If you are interested in trying this subscription, please use my link here.

Getting on with the glam bag, November’s theme was All You.There were two jewel-toned bags available – one in gold and another in teal. I received the teal one which is perfect because other than my love for purple, I usually gravitate towards blues and greens. I’m not sure if I would’ve like the gold one at all. Within this teal bag were five items. Spoiler alert: I loved it all!

The first product I received was the Barfly Highlighter in the shade Candlelit from ‘Tini Beauty ($12.00 USD, 3.5 g, full sized). This is a cream highlighter stick that is super cute and super portable. Candlelit is a soft pink shade that is easy to apply and goes on super smooth. It’s very pigmented and also easy to blend. I’m a big fan of stick highlighters (and honestly, just highlighters in general!) so I’m looking forward to using this one more. Plus this is full sized! Can’t go wrong with that! I love receiving full sized items on my ipsy bag.

The Crown Brush C141 Chisel Brush ($5.69 USD, full sized) is so soft! This looks like it will be a great brush to apply powders like blush, highlighters and finishing/setting powders. Can’t say to to a new brush! Especially one this soft!

I’ve never tried MAC primers before so I was happy to see the MAC Prep + Prime Natural Radiance Primer ($5.00 CAN, 6 ml, deluxe sample). This is a highlighting primer so it’s said to give your face a glow. The description states that it controls oil, hydrates and smoothes you your complexion. The vitamin E and C that’s in this primer will help protect your skin from things like smog, pollution and free radicals. Looking forward to really giving this product a try!

As a self-proclaimed lip balm junkie, the Sky Iceland Berry Lip Fix ($7.00 CAN, 5 ml, deluxe sample) was a welcomed surprise! Add to that the temperatures are dropping so it was perfect timing. My lips are so dry from the colder temperatures! This is a vegan and all-natural lip balm.

Last but not least is a product from a brand that I really like. I received the tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush in the shade Feisty ($10.00 CAN, 1.5g, deluxe sample). Feisty is a dusty rose shade… but from the looks of it, it looks more dusty than rose. I’m a big fan of these blushes! It’s great for both dry and oily skin. It’s easy to apply, blendable and buildable. I don’t have this shade yet so I will be adding this to my collection!

That’s it for November! The value of this bag was $44.57 CAN (based on today’s exchange rate).I adore everything that was in this bag so it was totally worth it for me this month!

How did your ipsy glam bag fare? Did you love it? Was it not so great? Share in the comments below!

Disclaimer: I pay for this subscription with my own money. All opinions are mine and mine alone. This post contains referral links.

Hello friends! There’s a new subscription box in town and it’s called Glow Getter!

Glow Getter (http://www.glowgetter.net) is a seasonal subscription boxthat ships to your door quarterly as the seasons change. You get four boxes a year and each box contains six or more full-sized products.

Glow Getter is not your typical beauty box. In fact, it leans more towards being a lifestyle box because it features everything from beauty products to accessories to lifestyle and wellness items. Everything which is seasonally appropriate, of course!

This subscription costs $56.00 CAD per season which includes all taxes and shipping. While this is a Canadian subscription service, it is also available to those who are in the United States.

I was super excited to see this subscription box come to life. I am in a number of beauty groups with Natasha, Glow Getter’s founder, so my anticipation was high with this one! I was very happy to see it in my mailbox!

The Spring Glow Getter box contains items from both Canada and the United States. It is a mix of beauty, skincare, body care, jewelry, lifestyle and wellness products. Whew, that was a mouthful! 🙂 Totally worth it because what a great mix for spring! Let’s take a peek at what I received. There were eight products and a bonus item so we have a lot to go through today!

The first item in my box was a Coconut Cream Bath Bomb from Spell Craft Bath ($8.00 CAD). This is a full-sized bath bomb in the shape of a white heart. I’m definitely looking forward to trying this one out. This smells divine! But then again, I adore coconut scents… it reminds me of vacation! And pina coladas. OR my new fave drink that I discovered in Hawaii called a Lava Flow. Delish! 😉 These bath bombs claim to keep your skin smooth and hydrating because they contain the following oils: grapeseed, coconut and vitamin E. This looks like it’s the perfect thing to use during the colder and drier months… especially here in Alberta! Please note that other subscribers may have received this product in the scent Pink Sands.

Next up is an item for your home. This hand poured Soy Candle in Garden Mint from Heirloom Candles ($5.00 CAD, 2 oz). It’s so cute! It is not overly minty or overly floral but it is a good balance. I love this scent because it reminds me of my mint plants in my garden. I love keeping mint in my garden so that I can infuse it in my drinking water. The scent is so fresh! This candle will come in very handy when I try the bath bomb. Soothing, relaxing baths and candles are complimentary and go so great together!

The first beauty item I received was the Manna Kadar Paradise Blush ($25.00 CAD). If you can recall, I received this in my January ipsy and I already very much like it! (A swatch of this shade can also be found on the ipsy unboxing post.). It’s a very nice pearlized pink blush that you can lightly put on your cheekbone or build up for more colour. It’s very versatile in that manner. This is already in my vanity and in rotation so I may keep this one as a back up!

Next, let’s talk skincare! I received a full-sized bottle of Delia Organics’ Restore Treatment ($40.00 CAD, 30 ml). This is a very light and very quick absorbing facial oil. You don’t need to use very much as a little goes a long way! I love that this is 100% natural and that it’s fragrance free. This will appeal to a lot of people! It is said to soften fine lines and wrinkles and hydrate your skin… among a number of other things! I can definitely say that it does absorb very quickly and that it is not at all greasy. I am finding it very nice on my skin. I don’t often use facial oils but this one has impressed me so I will continue to use it.

The wellness product in January was a Larabar in the Peanut Butter flavour ($3.00 CAD, 48 g). I have never tried this energy bar before but I’ve seen this around at Shoppers Drug Mart and my local grocery establishments so it’s easy to get ahold of if you end up falling in love with it. I would be lying if I didn’t say I was curious! I Plus, I adore peanut butter so I am happy I received this flavour! I will likely take this bar to work for those hunger emergencies during busy days where I am running from meeting to meeting. It doesn’t happy every day but it does happen! Or I will try it before a workout. We’ll see!

I love jewelry! So I was super happy to see that a Day and Co Jewelry Hand Stamped Bracelet ($24.00 CAD) was included in the Spring Box! Each bracelet is hand stamped with a different saying and were available in three metals: copper, aluminum and brass. The one I received was in brass and it says “Let Your Light Shine”. So cute and so inspirational! It is very light and it does bend so if you’re like me and have super small wrists, you can do a little bit of adjustments to make it fit so that it won’t fall off. The fact that it came with a cleaning cloth is great, too. Can I just say that this is also a local brand from right here in Alberta? I love being able to support local businesses so I’m super happy to see one of them make it into the Glow Getter box!

I did receive another makeup product. The Skone Cosmetics Luxe Doubler Eye and Lip Pencil in Girlypink ($16.00 CAD) is a multi-purpose pencil! Lip liner, eyeliner, lipstick, eyeshadow… you name it, you can use it that way! But knowing my personal preference when it comes to pink shades, I will likely only use this on my lips. It’s very rare that I use these bolder pinks on my eyes. Girlypink will work with a lot of my rose and berry lip colours.

I have used this next skin care product before and I really do love this product! The Vasanti Cosmetics BrightenUp! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator ($6.00 CAD, 20 g deluxe size) is an amazing exfoliating cleanser! I have used up one of these tubes before and I’m on my second one now. I’m glad that I now have a backup for what was my backup! 😉 At 20 g in size, this is the only non-full-sized product in this box but that’s okay! In my experience, my last tube lasted a long, long time. A little goes a long way for sure. I find this to be such a gentle scrub that works and I found it to work well on my skin. This was already a big fave of mine so I was happy to see this. As much as I love being exposed to new products, I also love to see favorites, as well.

The last item I am going to write about is a bonus item in this box. It is another product from Skone Cosmetics and it is their Smudger Brush ($20.00 CAD). This brush is a lot smaller than my other smudger brushes but that’s a good thing. This one looks like it will be great to use for smaller details such as applying or smudging eyeliner or for add some detail to the corners of your eyes. The bristles feels dense but are soft so that if you do use it on your eyes, you’re not poking your eyes out with prickly bristles. I think I will really like this brush!

Oh wait! I am not quite done yet. Some of you may have noticed this in my Instagram teaser post but there is something pink in the middle of the box. It is shaped kinda like a diamond but I wasn’t really sure what it was for. So I asked Natasha and it turns out that it serves multiple purposes. Not only does it help keep the box from getting crushed while it’s on it’s way to you, once you receive it, it can also be used in a variety of ways. You can flip it on its side and use it to keep your Beauty Blender clean or put a tea light underneath it and it becomes decorative.

I also love that these two tea recipe cards were included in the box. This is a great idea! I love teas myself so I will definitely be trying out these detox tea recipes.

And that, my friends, wraps up our unboxing the the Spring 2017 Glow Getter box today. The total value of this box, including the bonus, was $147.00 CAD which I think is fab! It is worth it for the amount I paid and I found the products to be of quality. I was super impressed with the variety you can find in this box! It really does feature a little bit of everything which is fab! I was super happy with this inaugural Spring 2017 box from Glow Getter that I am really looking forward to seeing what is in store for us for summer!

If you are interested in subscribing to Glow Getter, use the code glow5 to get $5 off! There are still a few spring boxes available so if you like what you saw in this post, jump to it! If you don’t get the spring box, ,your first box will be a Welcome Box.

What was your favorite product from the Spring Glow Getter box?

Hope you are all having an amazing week! A new post will be up soon. 🙂

Disclaimer: I pay for this subscription with my own money. All opinions are mine and mine alone. This post does not contain any referral links.

Happy Holidays everyone!I hope you’re all having a nice holiday season. It’s a busy time for sure!

I received my November ipsy weeks ago but it was right before vacation and I was SUPER busy during that time that I didn’t get a chance to write my unboxing post yet!

For those of you who are not familar with this subscription, ipsy is a monthly beauty bag based out of the US but is also available to Canadians.It is $10.00 USD a month in the US and $10.00 USD + $4.00 USD shipping for Canadians. You get a mix of skincare, makeup and haircare deluxe and full sized products. And you get a different style of bag each month. If you are interested in trying this subscription, please use my link – much appreciated!

November’s ipsy bag’s theme was Rockstarlet. The bag itself is very unique and shows constellations in the shape of various makeup and beauty items. So cute! I love stars so this was perfect for me. 🙂 It comes in two colorways – gold and silver constellations on the deep navy blue – and I ended up with gold. I would have been happy with either!

The items, on the other hand, were very hit or miss for me this month. More hits than misses, though, so that was good! Let’s see what came in my November glam bag.

The first thing I received was the Ciate Liquid Velvet Matte Liquid Lipstick in Diva ($7.00 CAD, 2 ml). Blue-toned red shades don’t work for me. I’ve tried many times now and I just can’t pull it off! So unfortunately, it’s a pass. I didn’t even want to open it to see how the consistency and feel was because I knew right away that this was going to be passed on to someone who will use it. I do see that there are other shades that I think I would prefer so I may have to try this another time.

Next up is the Luxie Beauty Rose Gold Small Duo Fiber Brush (524T) ($16.08 USD). This is the travel sized version of their 524 brush. Luxie is one of my favorite brush brands so I was very happy to see this! This small duo fiber brush will be great for foudation, setting powder, cream blushes… you name it! This is very much a versatile brush that can be used with many different products in many different ways. I love this!

I also received a deluxe sample of the pur~lisse Blue Lotus Balancing Moisturizer ($16.50 USD, 15 ml). I love getting moisturizers during this time of year because we have SUCH dry winters in Alberta! Any moisture helps! I have also really enjoyed other products I have tried from this brand so this looks promising to me. I love how it is said to provide hydration and prevents fine lines and wrinkles… you cannot go wrong with that at all! Looking forward to trying this one out!

My fourth item was the ‘Tini Beauty Eyetini Eyeshadow in the shade “Firestarter” ($13.00 USD, 1.6 g). What a gorgeous colour! The shade Firestarter is described as a “burnished amber chrome”. It is nicely pigmented and I do like it. I also have a soft spot for duochrome eyeshadows. 😉

And the last item was the Too Faced Better than Sex Mascara ($15.00 CAD, 4.8 g). This travel sized mascara is a great value item to receive in this bag! While this mascara doesn’t quite work for me – I turn into a racoon by the end of the day as this seems to always smudge under my eyes for some reason! – I know that it does work for others so this would be a great score in one’s bag! In my case, I will be passing on this.

There was excellent value in this bag and the items I received were all from great brands! The overall value of my November ipsy glam bag came out to around $82.79 CAD (based on today’s exchange rate) so that’s great to see. This was definitely a hit or miss bag for me and I only like three out of the five items but it’s still worth it to me! The mascara and liquid lipstick will find a great home, I’m sure!

What was your favorite item from the November ipsy glam bag?

Hope you all have an amazing week!

Disclaimer: I pay for this subscription with my own money. All opinions are mine and mine alone. This post contains referral links.

Greetings everyone! The holidays are slowly creeping up on us so we finally put up our tree and decorated this past weekend! We were a little late with the decorations this year because we were in Hawaii. Plus, it was a good time to do so due to the deep freeze we are dealing with here in Alberta where our windchill temperatures were dipping very close to -40 Celsius. Brr! This also gave me a bit of time to snap some pics and write about this beauty of a beauty box! So let’s get started.

Miss Blanco Joyful Box is a lifestyle box sent straight to you each month containing two to three deluxe or full sized beauty times, one hand-curated item and a lifestyle item. A “Box Full of Joy” so to say! It is priced at $38.00 CAD (or $28 USD) monthly.

Miss Blanco Joyful Boxis a little different than other beauty box subs out there in that it offers a VIP member option. This is just an option – you are not required to opt into this – but for $30.00 CAD per year, you can opt into this program. Please note that you must already be a subscriber and that the cost is on top of your monthly subscription cost. BUT you get a full year of extra perks and surprises for $2.50 CAD per month. If you do decide to join, please put my name in the field where it asks who referred you – Olivia from starpixel. I would very much appreciate it! 🙂

The Miss Blanco Joyful Box for November was called Acceptance.November’s box made me feel absolutely spoiled! I received a lifestyle item, a hand-curated item, three body products, two beauty items AND two surprise items bringing me to a total of nine(!!!) products in my box! I get that this does not occur every month but either way, I was ecstatic to see this! Just to clarify, I am a VIP member because I joined in the first month where you could become VIP free for life but this will give you a taste of what kind of surprises you can expect. 😉

Now that you know a little about the subscription and a brief summary of what I will be covering here, let’s take a closer look at each item I received. There’s quite a bit here so grab a cup of coffee or hot cup of tea with me and let’s go!

Let’s take a look at the lifestyle item first. This month’s lifestyle item is a Plaid Fashion Scarf ($32.99 CAD). Plaid and scarves are very much “in” this season so this is really the bet of both worlds! Unlike the more common blanket scarves out there, this is a lighter scarf so you can wear it well into spring, cooler mornings in summer and into the fall. You can totally pull off wearing this during any one of the four seasons! The colours in this scarf also makes it easy to wear with what you probably have in your closet. This makes it very versitile and I can already see myself wearing this a lot! I do love scarves, after all. 🙂 Here’s a pic I posted on Instagram wearing it.

Next up is a handmade Artisan Necklace ($20.99 CAD). This necklace is so adorable! It features a heart pendant on a black cord. Like the scarf, you can pretty much wear this with anything. This is a great piece for any day and any occasion.

Let’s discuss body products now. The first one is the Barefoot Venus Lilly Pilly Bath Treat ($5.50 CAD). Like the Lilly Pilly hand cream I received in my October box, it smells great! It contains epsom salt, mango butter, palm kernel oil and sweet almond oil and is created without any harsh mineral oils, parabens, propylene glycol and synthetic colours. I can definitely see myself settling into a nice bath with this treat. I can see this be very soothing and relaxing.

Speaking of soothing and relaxing, I also received the Barefoot Venus Lilly Pilly Argan Dry Body Oil ($2.50 CAD) in a travel size and it smells just as heavenly as the Bath Treat! I haven’t tried a body oil until now and this one is very nice. I found that it absorbs quickly into your skin and doesn’t leave a residue. I will definitely continue to use this on my dry skin. It’s wintery and cold now so this came at the right time!

I really like the Barefoot Venus products I have tried so far so these two were great to see in my Joyful box. 🙂

The final body product I received was the Cherish All Natural Products Body Oil in Bubble Gum ($10.00 CAD). I will be honest, I was very uncertain about this when I first saw the spoiler. Bubble Gum Body Oil? Really?

Yes, really! I did give it a try (because you should really try new things at least once!) and was pleasantly surprised! I thought it was going to be super sweet but it really isn’t. It’s still sweet but not crazy sweet. I am actually loving the scent – who knew? This was a great new discovery and I have the Joyful Box to thank for this! I also love how this product is natural. Similar to the Argan Dry Body Oil, I will be using this for sure… our winters here in Alberta are so dry. I did need this!

The body oil wasn’t the only item I received from this brand… I also got the Cherish All Natural Products Lip Balm in Cherish Cherry ($6.00 CAD). If you don’t already know, I am a self-proclaimed lip balm junkie! So I am always happy to see a new lip balm in these subscription boxes. 🙂 I haven’t opened this yet because I have too many lip balms as it is. But again, it’s made of natural ingredients so I have high hopes for it! I will use it one day soon! (Maybe sooner than later.. the Nivea lip balm I received from ChickAdvisor is just about done! I did use that one faster than usual… I did love it, though.)

Did the lipstick count as a makeup item? You decide. I did receive a real makeup item and it is the Sweet Leilani Eyeshadow in the shade Mai Tai ($14.99 CAD). This is one of Sweet Leilani’s Seaside Mineral Jewels Eyshadow. The shad Orchid is a grey-silver… I don’t have a colour similar to this in my collection so receiving this was nice. It is velvety smooth in consistency and very pigmented! I probably won’t use this too much as an all over shade but I will use it in the inner corners of my eyes. It’s vegan, and paraben and gluten free so if you are looking for those types of products, this may be something you would like to look into. It’s also fragrance free if you are sensitive to fragrances.

I will wrap this up with this random thought: so far the three body and beauty brands we’ve looked at are all Canadian. That is great! I always love supporting local or Canadian brands!

But we’re not done yet! Sure, we are done discovering what was in the box itself but I did also receive two bonus surprises in my box!

The first surprise is the elf Long-wear Lipliner Pencil in the shade Bitter ($1.00 USD). I haven’t used many elf products before so I’m looking forward to trying it! From the swatch shown on the elf site, Bitter is a berry shade. This also comes with a sharpener so that’s always a plus! While this was a great bonus surprise, I was way more excited about the other product.

The second surprise I received was the Lancome Bienfait Multi-Vital Moisturizer ($18.30 CAD, 15 ml) and since this is one of my favorite moisturizers, I was VERY happy to see this deluxe sample size! I’ve used this in the past and I loved it! it’s super moisturizing and worked so great with my skin.

Overall, the value of this box is $93.00 CAD according to the product card for the official box contents and then an additional $20.00 CAD in surprise items which is not too shabby! It contained way more products that other monthly subscription boxes (though, I do realize that this won’t happen every single month) so that was a huge plus! This was a really great box – awesome scarf, cute necklace and brands that are brand new to me. Can’t go wrong with that!

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Disclaimer: I pay for this subscription with my own money. All opinions are mine and mine alone. This post does not contain referral links.